Sachi
by Kirikoto
Summary: After defeating Nicholas the Renegade, the anime skipped the part where Kirito made his way out of the forest and to Klein. The book wrote a brief connection, but I felt that something different could have happened instead. Anyway, I don't want to spoil it too much. Read, and enjoy! Disclaimer: I do not have any affiliations with Reki Kawahara, or his awesome books.
1. Sachi

**_Author's Note: After watching and reading this part of the series, I teared, I'm not sure why. But after a while, I thought that maybe the story could have gone _****slightly****_ different... For instance, Kirito could have...I don't know...USED the «Divine Stone of Returning Soul»? Personally, I would have...just to try my luck. Anyway, here's my alternate ending to the scene. Of course I will bring in the scene with the original description first. Pardon the difference in writing style and enjoy!_**

**_The scene starts with Kirito defeating Nicholas the Renegade, a Christmas boss on the 35th Floor during Christmas..._**

_As written by Reki Kawahara:_

_It has been more than a year since I started playing SAO, but this was the first time my HP bar had entered the red zone._

_After the defeated target's polygon shattered, it left only a sack behind. There wasn't a single restoration crystal left in my inventory, I had never come this close to death before. Even though I survived, there was no happiness or comfort in my heart. Instead, I felt an emotion closer to disappointment. Why did I survive?_

_As I returned my sword back to its scabbard, the sack glowed and then disappeared. All the items that were dropped by the target should have registered in my inventory. Taking a deep breathe, I raised my trembling hand and called up the inventory window._

_The inventory window has many tabs with names that would irritate most players. Weapons & Armor, Jewels/Ores, Crystals, and even Food Ingredients, I scrolled through the window filled with item tabs to find a single item._

_A few seconds later, the item that I was searching for entered my line of sight._

_It was called «Divine Stone of Returning Soul»._

_My heart started to beat frantically, it felt as though blood had just started flowing through the part of the heart that was numbed for the past several days- several months._

_Ca... Can I revive Sachi? If this can be done, wouldn't it mean that, Keita, Tetsuo, and the souls of every player who lost their life in SAO since the beginning haven't been destroyed...?_

_This may be my only chance to see Sachi again. Just thinking of that made my heart skip a beat. No matter what curses or swears that might be thrown at me or any consequences that might befall because of my lies, this time I would hug her tightly with both my arms and look into the pair of black coloured eyes and say words from the bottom of my heart. It is not that you will never die, but it is me who is going protect you. To fulfil that promise, I will work hard to make myself stronger._

_After several failed attempts to select the stone from the window due to my trembling hands, I finally managed to materialize the «Divine Stone of Returning Soul». Floating above the inventory window is a rainbow-coloured jewel stone around the size of an egg with such beauty that was unable to be put into words._

_"Sachi...Sachi..."_

_Calling out her name, I tapped the jewel stone, then clicked on the help menu by the window, simple instructions appeared on the panel in a familiar font style._

_[The item can be used on the player's shortcut menu or holding the materialized item and shouting «Revive .. Player Name», the effect will only work and revive the fallen player during the time frame between death of the player to the disappearance of item's effect light. (approximately 10 seconds)]_

_Approximately 10 seconds._

_This phrase that seemed as if it was added intentionally, clearly and cruelly announcing that Sachi will never be revived._

_Approximately 10 seconds. This is from the time when a player's HP falls to zero, and the body shattering into polygons, to Nerve Gear sending out electrical signals to fry the player's brain in the real world. I cannot help but imagine how Sachi must have felt during the short span of 10 seconds, from her body disappearing till her Nerve Gear frying its owner's brain. It must have been extremely painful for her. In this span of 10 seconds, what was she thinking? I cursed myself repeatedly..._

_"Ugg..Ahhhhhh. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..."_

_I let out an animal-like scream._

_Grabbing the Divine Stone of Returning Soul that was floating above the inventory tab, I threw it with all my might onto the snowy ground._

_"Ahh... Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"_

_I stamped on the crystal furiously with my shoe while screaming. However, the crystal continued to glow steadily without being affected from the stamping, there was not even a single scratch, much less a crack on it. I screamed with all my might, shoved both my hands into the ground and using my fingers I grabbed the accumulated snow, in the end I continue my screaming while rolling on the snow._

* * *

"Sachi... I'm... I'm sorry..." I finally stopped kicking about and was laying motionless on the cold snow. Warm tears ran down my cheeks, the artificial warmth filling my face. "I thought I would be able to rescue you... Save you...from this game..."

_But I wasn't. I was careless and overconfident. I thought I could help all of you without releasing my true self... Why was I so stupid..._

An hour had passed since the fight with «Nicholas the Renegade», and my health was increasing slowly, already past the halfway mark. I weakly sat up and rubbed my eyes clean. A metre in front of me, I saw _it. _The crystal. The «Divine Stone of Returning Soul», lying in the snow... The only item in the game that allowed the user to supposedly revive their fallen comrade. But that would be unfair, wouldn't it? The moment you died in the game, the NerveGear would instantly fry your brain in the real world. Whatever you saw for the final 10 seconds...it would just be a computer. Not your friend that you longed to see. A cold, lifeless NPC, with its meaningless expressions.

_...That pathetic piece of junk... My only hope of helping Sachi...gone..._

I rubbed my eyes and in front of me, _it _rested there. The «Divine Stone of Returning Soul». Reluctantly, I crawled over and picked it up. As I stood upright, I stared at the crystal, emotionless. Maybe I should give it to Klein...he wanted it so badly...

_Or...I could use it first... Even if it means staring at an NPC..._

I sighed in resignation and raised the cold gem at chest level.

"Re-Revive..." I choked on my own words, before calmed down. "Revive... Sachi..." I whispered, loud enough for the command to be acknowledged.

The «Divine Stone of Returning Soul» glowed and hummed softly. It left my hand and rose into the air in front of me. A soft spray of white light fell to the ground as in emanated from the crystal, taking the form of a feminine body shape. The light faded afterwards, and a girl stood there, a gentke smile on her lips.

Sachi. The girl that I promised I would take home, but got her killed. The memories from the incident rushed back into my head vividly and I felt wet, warm tears in my eyes again, but I fought back and stepped forward, taking her right hand in both of mine. A single tear drop fell on her palm as I couldn't hold it in. I felt the warmth of her skin once again. _Could it really be her? _I thought at the back of my mind.

_Approximately ten seconds. _I wasted no more time as I started to speak.

"Sachi... I'm so sorry... I promised you and your guild that we would be able to get back to the real world... I could finally meet you in real life... But, I was careless and arrogant... I...I shouldn't have been such an idiot!" I cried, from a soft whisper to exclamation. Tears fell once again. Sachi took a step forward.

Putting both her hands around my back, she brought herself closer to me and squeezed lightly. After a moment of shock, I relaxed and wiped my tears, putting my hands on her as well. I was suddenly reminded of the short time we had.

Noticing my sudden shock again, Sachi stepped back and laughed lightly. "Kirito, I hope now you believe that I am not an NPC, but the real Sachi..."

Could it really be Sachi? The words hit me hard, but they melted and I felt momentarily happy and relieved. She was back. I started to smile. I didn't matter how it happened. I could still bring her back. There was a chance.

She turned around and gestured, as if communicating with other people. Then, I gasped in amazement. Four glowing figures behind her appeared and solidified, forming the Black Cats of the Full Moon. Keita, Tetsuo, Sasamaru and Ducker... They were in front of my eyes. Keita had his usual calm composure, along with the other three's playful expressions.

"Yo, Kirito," Ducker walked over and punched me lightly in the shoulder. I gasped again. He...he was real as well?! He laughed, flipped his blonde hair back and spoke, "You look like you've seen a ghost! Wait, make that five!" He started laughing. Still as mischievous...even in death...

"Don't scare him like that..." Keita walked over and pulled Ducker back. He looked up at me and smiled gently. I was cringing in absolute shock. I wasn't sure if I could be happy. _Gh-Ghosts?_

"Kirito... I know you must be shocked to see all of us, even though you just used the «Divine Stone of Returning Soul» to revive Sachi..." he started, "Well, you got more than you asked for... But relax, what Ducker said is true, we aren't actually physically in-game any more... So...we can't really stay. We aren't ghosts either... I don't know as well... But hey, we still have some problems to clear, right?" Keita smiled again, and I felt calm. I nodded.

"I...I'm sorry, Keita-san... I should have just told all of you I was a Beater. None of this would have happened then..." I said, looking at the cold snow. A hand went on my head and I looked up.

"Hey... Don't worry. I forgive you. Personally, the four of us couldn't believe it... Why you, a high-level front line man, would come down to help us. I guess I wasn't thinking clearly when I...jumped... You didn't mean to hurt us..."

"Yeah..." Ducker walked back forward. "You knew the dungeon better than us... We should've listened to you. But hey, no sweat! What's done is done... Don't feel too bad about it."

"But... If I told you guys..." I started, but Keita interrupted me.

"If you told us back then, we wouldn't have listened anyway... Look, all the five of us want to tell you, is that you don't have to feel bad about causing our deaths... I can't say that I'm not angry about it...but there's nothing we can do any more. Just carry on, and don't make the same mistake again."

Keita was right, unfortunately. But I still couldn't accept the fact. I promised them I would help. I promised Sachi, of all the five, that I would bring her back. I failed all of them... Tetsuo walked forward and he lifted my head with his right hand. I looked at his playful smile, and I felt better.

"Kirito, we don't have much time left... So, we'll be on our way... Please, remember us, but not for the wrong reason, okay?" he looked at me fearlessly, despite not knowing what would happen to him after this... I mustered up enough courage to nod. he grinned again and stepped back.

"We'll leave Sachi to say the last words..." Sasamaru said from behind. "Survive, Kirito. For the five of us. Make it to the real world again." The four, as if reading each other, nodded at once and walked deeper into the woods, their bodies glowing and disappeared. The «Divine Stone of Returning Soul» still floated in the air, unaffected by anything. Sachi and I were alone once again.

"Kirito... What Sasamaru said was right. Survive," the timid girl looked at me, eyes full of courage and hope for me. "Promise me _you _will make it out of Sword Art Online." She lifted her small right hand, pinky sticking out. My heart fell again. After this, Sachi would leave me. Nonetheless, I raised my little finger to hers and we bound it.

"Thank you, Sachi... I will." I felt tears fall once again, full of sadness. I let them.

"Kirito, I left something in our shared inventory... Check it when you get back to town..." I nodded and she smiled.

Sachi raised both hands to my face and wiped the tears away. She moved closer, and when we were just a hair's breadth away from each other, I pressed my lips against hers. For that short moment, all the sadness and disappointment went away. Then, we parted and we looked at each other once again. Tears fell from her face as well. "Goodbye, Kirito. I will be watching you." With that, we hugged once again. Her body started glowing until she disappeared. I was alone again.

The «Divine Stone of Returning Soul» fell onto my palms and remained there. I kept it in my coat pocket and felt a single, final tear fall from my eyes. Klein was waiting. And so was Sachi's final gift to me.

* * *

_**...back to Kawahara-san's version...**_

_By the time I was aware of my surroundings, I was back in the room of the inn at the 49th storey without any recollection of how I made my way back._

_The time was around 3am._

_I started thinking what I should do from this point onwards. For the past month, the revival item was the motivation for me to continue surviving. Although it existed, it wasn't the item that I wanted._

_After thinking for a while, I decided to head off and fight the boss of this level once dawn broke. If I beat that guy, I would continue on to beat the boss of the 50th level, and then, I'll continue on to the 51st._

_I couldn't think of any other ending for a stupid clown. After making this decision, my feelings relaxed, and I just sat on the chair like that. Not seeing anything, not thinking about anything, but waiting for morning to arrive._

_The moonlight that shone down through the window started changing positions bit by bit, and finally, it was replaced by a grey daybreak. I didn't know how many hours I did not sleep, but it felt good for a final morning after the worst night._

_As the clock on the wall ticked to 7am, I got ready to get up from the chair, and a strange alarm rang in my ears._

_Looking around, I couldn't find anything that could be the source of the sound. Finally, at the corner of my sights, I found a prompting purple signal from the main window flickering away, and I moved my fingers._

_What glowed was the same item window Sachi and I shared. There was a limited use item. I scrolled the screen down in a puzzled manner, and found the timer activated message record crystal._

_I took the crystal out, removed the window and placed it on the table._

_After clicking on the glowing crystal, I heard that memorable voice of Sachi._

Kirito, Merry Christmas.

At the time when you hear this message, I am probably dead. That is because if I were still alive, I would have removed this crystal from the shared inventory on Christmas Eve and let you hear what I have to say personally.

That... Let me clarify why I have recorded this message.

I, probably, will not survive for long. Of course, this does not mean that I doubt the capability of Kirito and the «Black Cats of the Full Moon» guild. That is because Kirito is very strong and the rest of the members are getting stronger by the day.

How should I explain this... A very close friend of mine from another guild lost her life. Being a timid person like me, she only hunted in safe areas, but because of her bad luck, she was killed by mobs on her way back to town. After that, I pondered over various stuffs and I came to a conclusion. To continue surviving in this world, it matters not how strong your companions are, if you do not have the will to live or the determination to survive no matter what, death definitely awaits.

For me.. Truthfully, ever since the first time I stepped into the beginner practice area, I was and have been very afraid. Actually, I never intended to leave the Starting City. Although I was very close to members from the Black Cats of the Full Moon in the real world and I enjoyed the time we spent together, I hated going into battles. I probably will die eventually if I continue to hold this attitude in battle. This was not caused by anyone, the problem lies with me.

Ever since that night, you've been telling me it's alright every night and that I won't die. That is why if by any chance I die, you'll definitely blame yourself for it and won't forgive yourself. This is also the reason why I thought of recording this message. I would like to tell Kirito, it isn't your fault. If there is any problem, it would be me. The date will be set on the next Christmas, because I would like to at least try to survive until then, hoping to walk down the snowy street together with you.

Actually... I knew how strong Kirito is. One time, when I woke up from Kirito's bed, I accidentally saw your level from your opened status window behind you.

Even after thinking long and hard, I still did not manage to come up with any reasons why Kirito-kun would hide his real level and form a party with us. But I didn't mention this to the other members, as I believed that someday you would tell us the reason personally... I was rejoicing when I found out that you are very strong. After knowing that, I started to be able to sleep peacefully as long as I am by your side. Perhaps to you, being with me might be of significance to you, this also made me very happy. If this is the case, there was definitely meaning in me coming to the higher floors even for a timid person like me.

That... Actually, what I am trying to say is, even if I die, you should strive to survive. Live on, look upon this world until it ends, please help me find out the reason why this world was created, the meaning of why such a timid person is in this world, the significance of our meeting. That is my wish.

Ah... Seems like there is still some time left. This crystal can record plenty of stuff. Hmmm, then, since Christmas is such a special occasion, I'll sing a Christmas carol. I do have some confidence in my voice. I guess I'll go with [Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer]. Actually I would have preferred to sing other songs like [Winter Wonderland], [White Christmas] which are more well known, but unfortunately I can only sing the lyrics of this song.

Why did I only remember [Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer]? The previous night, Kirito said something to me, "No matter who you are, you definitely can make a difference in someone's life." Telling me that even if it is me, there is a place where I belong. After hearing those words, I was extremely glad and I remembered this song. I don't know why but it was probably because I kind of thought of myself as Rudolph and you as Santa Claus... if I have to put it in words, you give off a fatherly feeling. My father left me when I was still very young, that is why every night when I was sleeping beside you, I kept wondering if that was the feeling that a father would give. Ah, okay, I'll start singing.

Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer had a very shiny nose.

All of the other reindeer used to laugh and call him names.

Then one Christmas Eve

Santa came to say:

"Rudolph with your nose so bright, won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"

Rudolph who was always crying, started smiling that night.

...To me, you'll always be like a bright star that shines and guides me from the opposite end of a dark alley. Good-bye, Kirito. It was really fortunate of me to have met you and to have been with you.

Thank you.

Good Bye.


	2. After Game

_**Author's Note: This is an optional chapter. I decided to put it in, because I felt that only one mention of the Black Cats of the Full Moon was in Sword Art Online. I felt that it was quite important for Kirito to remember them, so I decided to write this... Enjoy!**_

* * *

I got off the bus and walked towards the graveyard. Asuna offered to come along, but this was something I wanted to do alone. Nobody could comfort me on this matter.

After escaping Sword Art Online and rescuing Asuna from Alfheim Online, I remembered about Sachi, and the Black Cats of the Full Moon. Personally, I felt guilty that I had ever forgotten about them at all. So, as soon as Asuna was healthy and on her feet, I decided to do some...research.

With the help of Kikuoka Sejirou, the member of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications that helped me find Asuna previously, I found out that Sachi, along with the other four members of the guild were buried at a graveyard in Tokyo. Immediately after which, I decided to go and pay a visit...

As I walked further into the cemetery grounds, the noises of the cars slowly quietened. It was as though someone had muffled the noises that came through the gates. Wasting no more time, I walked further into the graveyard, taking out a small region map, with the guild members' graves marked out in blue. i spotted a handful of people, one or two working at the area, while the others were paying their respects to their own dead loved ones.

Finally, after a ten minute walk, around 11.45am, I reached the location. I walked down the row, and I saw their tombstones, with their real names indicated on the stones. I noticed I was alone, and no one was within the immediate surroundings. A cold wind passed as I wrapped my coat around myself tight. On the four guild members' graves, I saw flowers being brought by their own family members. My heart ached a little at the sight. Fighting whatever sadness I felt, I knelt down to each and every one of their graves, placing a small trinket on each one. For Keita, I placed a small figure of a two-handed stave that he used in the game. For Tetsuo, I placed a mace. For Ducker, I left a small figure of a thief, representing his skill build in-game. As for Sasamaru, I placed a single mantis key chain, recalling the time where we fought together against a huge monster. On everyone of them, I wrote on a tag "From Kirigaya Kazuto, The Black Swordsman of The Black Cats of the Full Moon".

Finally, I faced Sachi's gravestone. I smiled a little as I read it. Now, I knew her real name. I whispered it out, and a warm feeling came over me. My mind flashed back to when the two of us were alone, and she planned to run away. I wondered if she would still be alive if we did that. I fought another wave of tears that hadn't appeared yet.

I knelt down at her grave, and I spoke. "Sachi... I made it out. I fulfilled my promise. I hope I will never forget you again. Thank you for lending me strength." I placed a necklace and key chain in front of the stone. On the necklace, was an exact replica of the time-delayed message item which Sachi left for me. It took me a long time to get someone to make it to the exact form, along with the other items. On the key chain, was a sword and a shield, as well as a a second sword, which represented my Elucidator.

I got up and looked at the five gravestones again. The five deaths that I caused. I felt an actual tear run down my face, full of regret and sadness. But I remember my final confrontation with the guild and I looked up again. I closed my eyes and heard Sachi sing "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" once again, and I opened my eyes. After staying for five more minutes, I bowed once again before walking off.

_Sachi, I will remember the times we spent together, and how we overcame almost everything. Although none of you are here now, all of you will always be with me, in my heart. Merry Christmas._

* * *

_**...and, that's it. I hope you guys liked it. It's my first time writing something like this. So, please drop a review if you have the time, and thank you for reading! ^^**_


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